The Hardest Thing About Fitness Coaching (That No One Wants to Admit)
Sep 04, 2025The hardest thing about fitness coaching isn’t writing programs.
It’s not exercise science, picking the “right” rep scheme, or choosing whether you should be doing barbell squats or Bulgarian split squats.
The truth is... the fitness program matters the least.🤫
What matters most?
Your lifestyle. Which is mostly made up of the 23 hours of your day when you’re nowhere near the gym.
What Makes Up Your Lifestyle?
Your lifestyle isn’t just one thing—it’s the entire ecosystem of how you live.
Here’s what actually dictates your results:
-
The food you eat (quality, quantity, consistency)
-
How much sleep you get
-
Your job demands and work hours
-
Your hobbies and how active (or inactive) they are
-
The people you surround yourself with
-
Your day-to-day schedule and how chaotic it is
-
Your stress levels and how you cope with them
-
Whether you’re mostly sedentary or moving throughout the day
-
Your alcohol intake
-
How much time you spend staring at screens
-
Even things like your commute, social obligations, and the environment you live in
All of that adds up to whether your body is primed for progress or constantly stuck in survival mode.
View this post on Instagram
What a Coach Can’t Control
Here’s the part most coaches won’t admit:
I can’t control what you do during those 23 other hours.
I can’t make you choose a high protein and fiber home-cooked meal over fast food.
I can’t force you to stop doomscrolling and go to bed by 10 pm.
I can’t tell your boss to stop scheduling 12 hour shifts.
The only things I can do are:
-
Counsel you.
-
Teach you.
-
Share what’s worked for hundreds of clients.
- Give you a roadmap to follow.
-
Inspire you when motivation runs dry.
-
Hold you accountable as best I can.
And then… hope for the best 😂 In all seriousness, I just have to hope that you take action based on the new knowledge you have paired with the want to be better.
What Gets Me Fired Up
I’ll be honest...I get the most excited when I hear a potential client say something like:
“I really want to create better habits.”
or
“I know my routine needs to change if I want different results.”
That’s big picture thinking.
That’s someone who gets it.
That’s the key to actually unlocking results in the gym.
Because the workout you do does not mean shit if you don’t have the other stuff handled.
The hardest part about coaching isn’t sets, reps, or exercise selection. It’s helping you re-engineer your life so that training actually works.
And that’s why the best results don’t come from the “perfect” program. They come from the people who decide to get serious about their sleep, their food, their environment, and their daily habits.
Handle those 23 hours and the one hour in the gym suddenly becomes a whole lot more effective.
If you want help building not just workouts, but a lifestyle that actually supports your health and fitness goals, go find the "start now" button.
